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Jim and Megan's wanderings in the world

Sweden Photos

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We are staying in one of the buildings on the shore. The 450-foot tower in the background is part of the sewage treatment and biogas plant. It is built tall so all possible odors are undetectable to the neighbors. Indeed, we have only smelled fresh air while here.

Sven and Eva on Season, Sven’s boat.

Swedish words often make us smile for how different they are than English

Many houses on near the shore have a small sauna building right down on the water.

Jim and Sven sailing Season.

Children’s carnival in Stockholm. Each ride was human powered by parent volunteers.

Ferris wheel at children’s carnival with a parent cranking the wheel on the right.

While the children rode around, a ferris wheel attendant playfully tried to steal shoes, hats, or anything she could reach from the children.

By the end of the ride, she had quite a collection.

If you look carefully you can see Megan in a pink blouse outside the tourist office in Stockholm.

Fun at the ABBA museum

This is a very common sight: bicycles “parked” anywhere, unlocked or locked only to itself with a small cable, and carrying a childseat and/or basket.

National elections in Sweden take place in mid-September. Candidates and parties are only allowed to post signs for 40 days before. The combination of English and Swedish on one sign is not uncommon.

Bicycle and pedestrian paths are very common, so you rarely are walking alongside a road. Lidingö, the island we are staying on, is half green space crossed with trails like this.

Every stairway we’ve seen in Sweden has accessibility track for bicycles and baby strollers

Recycling is common here. You can see different bins for plastic, paper, metal, and everything else. Unlike in the States, virtually every kind of plastic, paper, and metal can be recycled from Saran wrap to lids to the bag cereal comes in.

A narrow passage on the way into Helsinki, Finland. The cruise ship before us looks like they will barely fit.

Now it is our turn to go through. Note the boat ahead of us making a hard turn–the channel can be like a maze.

Five icebreakers waiting for winter. Helsinki, Finland.

Helsinki, Finland is also full of interesting architecture. We found streets to be wider than in Stockholm and more modern buildings mixed in with the old ones.

Upenski Cathedral in Helsinki, Finland is the largest Orthodox Church in western Europe

Helsinki, Finland. The entrance to Central Rail Station.

Helsinki, Finland. Fun animal-like details in white on this old building.

This graphic shows the 200ft fall of sea level over the last 8000 years on the Baltic. The land is rising. The Vikings had quite a different coastline than the one we see today.

Helsinki. The Kamppi Chapel of Silence provides a quiet place in the middle of a bustling city.

Stockholm. The peach building cleverly attached a mirror outside each window to allow every room a water view.

Stockholm. Royal soldiers making their way to the palace. Note the mock bedroll at the back of each saddle; these folks are not sleeping outside today.

The royal band making their way to the palace in Stockholm

Vasa. Despite being submerged for 333 years, the ship is well preserved and you can see the elaborate statuary on the stern. In it’s day, these would have been painted bright colors.

We rented bicycles one day to tour one of Stockholm’s island that used to the hunting ground for the royal family and today houses many museums.

Sven and Megan aboard Season.

Navigating in the Baltic is difficult due to the quantity of small islets

A rough day on the Baltic, with waves breaking on this rare gravel beach in Gotland.

Protective wall around Visby, Gotland. The wall was first constructed in the 12th century.

One of the tower entrances to Visby, Gotland. While there is not a traditional moat around the town, there is a low wet area. The wooden planks that make up this bridge would be removed when the town was expecting intruders.

Visby, Gotland.

Visby, Gotland. These wooden houses are said to be 800 years old, blackened by preservative tar.

Visby, Gotland. Close up of the impact of tar applied for centuries to wood.

Visby, Gotland. Wooden houses are preserved by a regular application of tar. After centuries, they acquire a bubbly texture. This one is slighty red, which means it has likely be painted with a mixture of tar and copper oxide.

Visby, Gotland. Many houses here have asymmetrical rooflines.

Visby, Gotland.

Visby, Gotland. Given that most building are 500-800 years old, they have been remodeled as the owners and purposes change. Can you see the signs of what this building used to look like?

Inside S:ta Katarina in Visby, Gotland. Like all the churches it town, this was built in the 12-13th century. Post-Reformation, they fell into disrepair but the ribs still stand today.

Visby, Gotland. The ruins of S:t Han are now an open-air restaurant.

The roof of this cathedral in ruins shows the skill of the masons in building arched roofs.

Protective wall around Visby, Gotland.

A residential street in Visby, Gotland. These houses are centuries old.

Visby, Gotland. Megan and Sven enjoying the view from one of Sven’s favorite places

Visby, Gotland. Inside a tower on the protective wall. The wooden floors are gone but you can imagine what it may have looked like when occupied by lookouts and archers.

Strike a pose in the ruins of S:t Olof, Visby.

Strike a pose in the ruins of S:t Olof, Visby.

Visby, Gotland. This street, called Fiskagränd, was the old fish market and is one of the most photographed places in all of Sweden. We were lucky to be there while the roses were still blooming

Picture stones carved between 500-700AD on Gotland. Many of them are thought to contain cosmology.

Picture stones carved between 500-700AD on Gotland. Many of them are thought to contain cosmology.

This is a båk, which was used before there were lighthouses to let sailors know they were nearing the mainland. Each one is unique in shape and design so you can locate your position on a chart relative to the båk.

One of the many narrow passages between islands in the Baltic

One of the many small lighthouses that help sailors navigate safely. Note the swans in front of it for scale. Swans and large signets are all over the place right now.

Paying respect at the famous “Kejsaren” navigation marker. Someone put a crown on this decades ago and now sailors toast as they pass, offering thanks for a safe passage.

Another beautiful granite island in the Baltic

Passing through the narrow Baggenstäket channel near Stockholm, it is less than 20 meters wide here!

An old steam boat, still used everyday as one of the ferries shuttling people around the Stockholm archipelago.

As we sailed into Stockholm, we passed through a fleet of old wooden sailboats.

Here is one of the old wooden boats, a common sight around Stockholm.

A crane painted like a giraffe, Stockholm.

Looking at Uppsala Slott (Castle) across the Botanic Gardens. The castle was built for Gustav Vasa.

One of many beautiful historic homes in Uppsala.

This entire street was lined with full bike racks. Uppsala.

Inside the original Uppala University Building. The voices of students waiting for class filled the space as the sound bounced off the marble walls.

Jim’s vain attempt at speaking Swedish failed to bring life to this otherwise perfect statue.

Uppsala Botanic Garden. There are over 9000 species grown here and they are organized both by their scientific names and how they grow. This is a section of the plants that grow in water.

Part of Uppsala Cathedral. It is impossible to get the whole thing in one shot from the ground; we tried.

One of the many crypts on the floor of the Uppsala Cathedral. Note the dates 1620-1666. The elaborate carvings and rungs attached to many of these created trip hazards.

Uppsala Cathedral, looking up

Uppsala Cathedral, looking nearly the length of it. Note the elaborate gold pulpit in the middle.

Public forest and meadows on the island on Lidingo comprised more than half the land. We appreciated the hiking trails, berry patches, and soft grassy seats.